Advances in our understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of human hemoglobin including Cooley's anemia have led to the continued importance of these disorders in studies of human genetics for the last 20 years. More recently, information about disorders of human hemoglobin have focussed on: 1) Newer descriptions of the precise DNA changes leading to the defects in globin synthesis in the thalassemias; 2) A better understanding of the regulation of human globin gene expression; 3) New methods and their application to ante- and post-natal diagnosis of the thalassemias; and 4) Newer approaches to therapy including the development of unique iron chelators, bone marrow transplantation, and the possibility of gene transfer leading to gene therapy. All these advances are exciting and the Sixth Cooley's Anemia Symposium will permit investigators around the world to share their new knowledge and gain insight from others with respect to these advances and their application. This meeting has been successful in the past. The Fifth Cooley's Anemia Symposium held in 1985 was extremely well received by participants and observers as well. The Cooley's Anemia Foundation, a national organization devoted to Cooley's anemia, has strongly supported this conference in the past and has agreed to provide significant funding for the Sixth Cooley's Anemia Symposium. The major goal of the Symposium is to update the scientific experience in Cooley's anemia and share the remarkable progress related to diagnosis and therapy of these diseases which continues to represent the forefront of research in genetic disorders.